Railway tie



May 18,1926.

C. E. DOW

RAILWAY TI E Filed June 1925 8 Fiji gwye'ntoz M Z M W./ f h h m attain Patented May 1%, i926.

CHARLES E. DQVJ, DECEASED, LATE OF DENVER, COLORADO; BY LILLIAN E. DOVJ,

MINISTBATBIX, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

RAILWAY TIE.

Application filed June as, 1925. Serial No. cases.

This invention relates to improvements in railway ties and means for securing rails thereto.

The necessity of employing some nondecomposable material, such as concrete, for railway ties, has been long recognized and attempts have been made to produce a satisfactory concrete tie none of which, however, have been very extensively adopted. It is obvious that railway ties are subjected to severe strains and that they must therefore be made strong. The downward pressure on the ties comes directly underenath the rails which are secured to the ties near their ends. The ties could be made in two parts as far as supporting the loads is concerned, but they also perform the additional function of keeping the rails from spreading. The forces that produce spreading exert a tension on the tie and could be resisted by a flexible tension member. If a rigid tie is employed, it will be subjected to a bending force which tends to break it. This force is due to the fact that the load is at the ends and the center portion is supported unyieldingly on the roadbed between the rails. If a concrete tie were made of the same cross section at every point along its length, it would be very likely break, due to the bending stresses to which reference has just been made. To prevent the ties from breaking in the middle, they have been provided with a central port-ion of different shape and of reduced cross sectional area. The central portion of the improved tie comprises two parallel spaced reenforced concrete bars whose lower surfaces are V-sha ed and have their edges some distance above the plane of the bottom of the tie. The object of reducing the central portion of the tie and for leaving a space between the lower edges of the central connecting members and the plane of the bottom of the tie, is to prevent the central portion from resting solidly on the ground thereby removing the resistance against downward movement and the bending stresses that tend to break the tie. It is obvious that the weight of the train cannot break the tie unless the central portion is supported so unyieldingly that its resistance to downward movement will produce the necessary bending force. By having the lower edges of the connecting member sharp, they will cut into the ground upon which they may rest as the ll-shaped lower edges will force the dirtoutwardly thereby reduc ing the resistance to such an extent that the tie will not break.

In order to describe the invention with the requisite p: irticularity I shall have reference to the accompanying drawing in which it has been illustrated'and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my improved tie. I

F 2 is a side elevation thereof looking in the direction of arrows 2- 2 Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 38, Fig. 2;

lii 4 is a section taken on line ll Fig. 2,

ig. 5 is perspective view of a portion of thetie wi' h one-half broken away to better disclose the reenforcing members;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of one end of a tie showing rail securing plates, and

7 is a side elevation looking'along line (7 Fig. 6. l

T he improved tie is of standard length and size as the sawed wooden ties now in use, and is made of concrete reenforced in the manner hereinafter described... The tie has end portions 1 that are of solid concrete construe tion and provided with transverse notches 2 for the reception of the base portion of the rails 3. ll. plate lis preferably placed between the bottom of the rail base and the top of the tie. The end portions 1 are connected by means of two concrete bars 5 that are spaced. from each other. The sides of these bars form right angles with the upper surface but the lower side-is formed by two surfaces 6 and 7 whose lower edges form an acute angle. The lower side of the bars 5 may therefore be defined as ii-shaped. It will be noticed that the sharp edge 8 of the V- shaped surface is a considerable distance above the plane of the bottom of the tie so that if the tie is laid on a plane surface, the center portion will not come into contact therewith. The rails 3 cross the ties at a point substantially half the distance between the ends of the end sections 1 so that the latter will present an equal resistance on each side of the rail whereby, if the ties are placed on a flat roadbed and a load applied to the rails, there will be no tendency to bend and break the tie at its center. In order to give the tie the greatest possible strength, six steel reenforcing bars which extend the entire length of the tie, have been Eli) lot!

incorporated therein. These bars have been lesignated by numerals 9, 10 and 11. Three of these bars pass through each of the central connecting membersro. The bars numbered 10 are straight while bars 9 and 11 are ofi set and lie near the bottom of the ends 1, all as shown in Figs. 3, a and 5. An additional reen'forcing bar 12 is placed between bars 11 and in the same plane as these. For the purpose of securing the rail in place, two U-shaped securing members have been provided in each end, one on each side of the notch 2. These securing members have a straight base portion 13 that lies underneath bars 11 and 12. The sides 1% extend upwardly on the inside of the bars 10 and project above the upper surface of the tie where they terminate in flattened end portions 15 that can be bent over onto the upper surface of the base flanges in the manner shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. If it is thought to be necessary or found to be desirable, the rails may be secured in place in the manner shown in Figs. 6 and 7 where plates 16 and 17 are clamped against the base of the rail by means of U-bolts 18. The plate 17 has been shown as provided with a bracing portion 19 that engages the web of the rail and projects upwardly against the shoulder 20. Plates like 17 may be applied to the outside of curves.

From the above description it will be apparent that a railway tie has been produced that is of rigid and strong construction and which is so designed that the center portion will not come into contact with the solid roadbed and which will be adapted to cut into any amorphous material that may accumulate bet-ween and under the connecting bars 5.

Having now described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. A railway tie formed of concrete and having a central portion reduced in size in a vertical direction, the reduction being from beneath whereby a space is left between the lower side of the reduced portion and the plane of the bottom of the tie and a plurality of metal reenforcing bars moulded in the tie and extending from points near the op posite ends of the tie through the reduced central portion, the central portion of some of said bars being ofl set with respect to the end portions, said ott'set portion extending through the reduced central part.

2. A railway tie formed of concrete and having a central part reduced in size in a vertical direction, the reduction being from beneath whereby a space is left between the lower side of the reduced part and the plane of the bottom of the tie, said reduced part being formed of two separate spaced parallel portions, a plurality of metal reeni'orcing bars moulded in the tie and extending from points near the opposite ends of the tie through the reduced central portions, one bar extending through each central portion near its bottom and two bars extending through each central portion near its top, said bottom bars being bent downwardly and located near the bottom of the end portion, one of each of said pairs of reenforcing bars that pass through the central portions: near their tops, being bent downwardly so as to lie near the bottom of the end portions and the other bar of each pair extending straight so as to lie near the top of the end portions and a pair of U-shaped securing members embedded in each end portion and extending above the upper surface, said ties having transverse grooves at each end, said grooves lying between the securing members.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature.

LILLIi-X l5]. D011", Admim'stmtraz of the Estate of Char-Zea E.

D020, Deceased. 

